Single receptacle



Aug.. 27, 1929. .w. J. FERRIS Filed Oct. 6, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 27, 1929. w J FERRIS SINGLE RECEPTAGLE Filed Oct. 6, 192

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (Z Summer,

Patented Aug. 27, 1929.

UNITED vSTATES 1,726,430 PATENT OFFICE.

WHLLABD J. I'EBBIS, OI JACKSON, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOB TO REYNOLDS SPRING COH- PANY, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

SINGLE BECEPTAO'LE.

Application filed October 6, 1928. Serial No. 810,786.

The invention relates to a single receptacle.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of single receptacles and toprovide a simple, practical and efiicient single receptacle of strong, durable, and comparatively inexpensive construction adapted to be easily manufactured, and equipped with polarity slots and provided with spaced bus bars which will be completely insulated from each other so that there will be no liability of accidental short-circuiting or sparking, and which at the same time will afford ready access to the means for connecting the circuit wires with the bus bars.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and set forth in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, size, and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a single receptacle constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a similar view, the detachable cover plate being removed to illustrate the arrangement of the bus bars.

Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the body of the receptacle, the bus bars and the detachable cover plate bein removed.

Fig. 5 is a si e elevation of the single receptacle.

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a lon tudinal sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view on the line 99 of Fi 6.

Fig; 10 is a detail perspective view of one of the bus bars.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, the single receptacle comprises in its construction a body constructed of molded bakelite or other suitable insulating material and consisting of a relatively thin face plate 1 provided at its rear face with a central block 2 formed integral with the face plate. The face plate is provided with an inclined marginal flange 3 to form a beveled edge, and it is reinforced by central longitudinal ribs 4 and transverse ribs 5 which extend from the transverse block to the marginal flanges. The longitudinal ribs 4 are arranged in alignment with each other and extend from the centers of the ends of the face plate to the central block, and the transverse ribs 5 extend from the ends of the central block to the side marginal flanges.

The face plate is provided with slots 6 and 7 spaced apart at the center of the face plate. The slot 7 is longer than the slot 6 to polarize the device, and the face plate is beveled at the marginal edges of the slots 6 and 7 to facilitate the introduction of the knife blades of a plug into the receptacle, which knife blades are designed to be of different sizes to cooperate with the slots 6 and 7.

The central block consists of a transversely disposed central portion and terminal longi-' tudinal portions 8 located at opposite sides of the block and projecting from the central transverse portion of the same in opposite directions and co-operating with the central portion to form corner recesses 9 located at opposite sides of the device and disposed diagonally opposite each other, and the face plate is thickened at the side or end recesses, the thickened portions being in flush rela tion with the longitudinal flanges 4.

The block 2, which forms a housing and a support for bus bars 10, is provided at its central transverse ortion with spaced openings 11 communicating with the slots 6 and 7 and providing chambers or compartments for the rece tion of spring fingers 12 of the said bus ars 10. The longitudinal terminal extensions 8 of the central block are provided at their inner sides with grooves 13 which communicate with the side recesses 9 and which are adapted to receive the terminal portions of binding screws 14 of terminal arms 15 of the bus bars. The grooves 13 provide ample space for the adjustment of the binding screws. The central block is recessed at 15 to form a seat for the bus bars 10, and it is provided with flanges 16 which extend along the outer sides of the central block and across the ends of the terminal extensions and inwardly at the transverse walls of the side re e e 9. Th block is also recessed at 1? adjacent the marginal flanges to provide shoulders or seats for a detachable cover plate 18. The bus bars are similar in construction and are reversible and interchangeable, and each bus bar consists of a thin strip of suitable conducting material provided at one end with the spring fingers 12 which are formed integral with the bus bar, and one or both of the fingers may be provided with an indentation 19 forming a protuberance at the inner face of the finger, to insure proper contact between the knife blades and the spring fingers. The terminal portions 20 of the spring fingers are bent in opposite directions at an obtuse angle to provide a flaring entrance to permit the knife blades to be readily inserted between the spring fingers. The bus bars are let into the central block, so that a solid portion 21 of the block is interposed between the' bus bars, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 3 and 9 of the drawings.

The bus bars are firmly retained in position by the cover plate, and the terminal arms 15 have their free ends fitted in grooves 23 formed by flanges 24 located at the side recesses 9 and extending longitudinally of the face plate and adapted to prevent movement of the arms laterally of the face plate under pressure exerted on the arms in attaching circuit wires to the bus bars and also when subjected to any strain incident to a pull on the circuit wires.

The sprin fingers 12 are located at one end of the bus Tar, and the terminal arm 15,

' which is formed integral with the bus bar,

is located at the other end thereof, and extends from the body portion of the bus bar tothe said groove 23, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 8 of the drawings. The arms 15 are recesses at their side edges at 24 to form opposite shoulders and to receive tongues 25 of a contact plate 26. The tongues 25 are arranged in pairs and are bent around the recessed edges of the arms 15 and engage the shoulders formed by the recesses, and securely grip the arm and firmly secure the contact plate to the said arm 15. The contact plate 26 is pierced by the binding screw 14, which is threaded into the contact plate. The contact plate is split at the ends at spaced points to form the tongues 25, and the intermediate portions of the metal of the contact plates between the tongues 25 are bent outwardly to form projections 27 which cooperate with the binding screw in holding the bared portion of a wire. As the bus bars are reversible, either bus bar may be arranged in position at either side of the block so that the parts of the single receptacle may be easily and quickly assembled.

The cover late, which conforms to the configuration o the central block, and which is seated upon the shoulders 17 within the marginal flanges 16, consists of laterally ofiset oppositely extending longitudinal portions 28 connected together at their inner ends. The cover plate is detachably secured to the central block by a suitable fastening device 29 which may consist of a screw, as shown, but any other form or arrangement of fastening device may be employed, as will be readily understood. The screw 29 is shown engaging a suitable threaded socket 30 which may, if desired, be reinforced by a metal insert. The face plate is provided with suitable apertures for fastening devices to secure it in position.

What is claimed is: r

1. A receptacle-comprising a body of insulating material consisting of a face plate provided at the rear face with an integral block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sides of the block and forming corner recesses located at opposite sides of the block at diagonally opposite points, said block being provided at the transverse portion with spaced openings communicating with slots in the face plate, and spaced substantially L-shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block at the longitudinal extensions thereof and provided at their inner ends with springtongues located in the said openings, said bus bars being also provided at their outer ends with terminal arms arranged in the corner recesses and provided with wire attaching means.

2. A receptacle comprising a body of insulating material consisting of a face plate provided at the rear face with an integral block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sidesof the block and forming corner recesses located at opposite sides of the block at diagonally opposite points, said block being provided at the transverse portion with spaced openings communicating with slots in the face plate, spaced substantially L-shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block at the longitudinal extensions thereof and provided at their inner ends with spring tongues located in the said openings, said bus bars being also provided at their outer ends with terminal arms arranged in the corner recesses and provided with wire attaching means, and a removable cover plate of insulating material having laterally offset oppositely extending terminal portions and conforming to the configuration of the block and secured to the same, said cover plate being fitted over the bus bars and covering the same.

3. A receptacle comprising a body of insulating material consisting of a face plate provided at the rear face with an integral block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sides of the block and forming corner recesses located at opposite sides of the block at diagonally opposite points, said block being provided at the transverse portion with spaced openings communicating with slots in the face plate, spaced substantially L-shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block at the longitudinal extensions thereof and provided at their inner ends with spring tongues located in the said openings, said bus bars being also provided at their outer ends with terminal arms arranged in the corner recesses and provided with wire attaching means, a removable cover plate of insulating material having laterally ofiset oppositely extending terminal portions and conforming to the configuration of the block and secured to the same, said cover plate being fitted over the bus bars and covering the same, and marginal flanges located at opposite sides of the central block and at the outer ends of the extension-s thereof and at the transverse walls of the corner recesses and fitting and confin-, ing the cover plate.

4. A receptacle comprising a body of insulating material consisting of a face plate provided at its rear face with a block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sides of the block and forming a pair of corner recesses diagonally opposite each other, said block being provided with openings communicating with slots in the face plate, substantially L-shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block at the longitudinal extensions thereof and provided at their inner ends with spring tongues located in the said openings, said bus bars being provided at their outer ends with terminal arms arranged in the corner recesses and havin a Wire attaching means, and longitudinal flanges carried by the face plate and located in the corner recesses and forming grooves receiving the free ends of the terminal arms and holding the same against lateral movement.

5. A receptacle comprising a body of insulating material consisting of a face plate provided at its rear face with a block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sides of the block and forming a pair of corner recesses diagonally opposite each other, said block being provided with openings communicating with slots in the face plate, substantially L-shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block at the longitudinal extensions thereof and provided at their inner ends with spring tongues located in the said openings, said bus bars being provided at their outer ends with terminal arms located in the corner recesses and recessed at the side edges to form shoulders, contact plates fitted against the arms and provided with spaced tongues embracing the arms between the said shoulders, and binding screws carried by the said plates.

6. A receptacle comprising a body of insulating material provided at its rear face with an integral block consisting of a central transverse portion and longitudinal extensions located at opposite sides of the block and forming corner recesses at diagonally opposite points, said block being provided at the transverse portions with spaced openings communicating with slots in the face plate and said block being provided at the corner recesses with grooves, approximately L- shaped bus bars located at opposite sides of the block and having spring arms at one end arranged in the said openings, said bus bars being provided at the other end with terminal arms located in the corner recesses, and binding screws carried by the corner arms, and extending into the said grooves.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 4th day ofOctober, 1928.

WILLARD J. FERRIS. 

